I have released four recipe books so far:

The Best of the Sunny Raw Kitchen
The Best of Raw Freedom Community
Delightfully Raw and
Deliciously Raw

These feature some of the most delectable creations to have come out of my raw kitchen and will appeal to anyone interested in a healthier diet, regardless of their level of knowledge and experience. From easy one-step everyday fare to more elaborate and involved gourmet dishes and layered cakes, they offer something for everyone and every occasion. Incredibly tasty smoothies, creamy and comforting warm soups, sexy salads, delicious nut cheezes, satisfying entrees and scrumptious guilt-free desserts...

Healthy food never tasted so good!

To learn more about my recipe books, click here!

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Onion, Dill & Horseradish Cheez

In May 2007, at 63 years old, my friend Barbara stopped eating meat and all animal products cold turkey (pardon the pun) and became vegan. After only four months into her new diet she was already quite a different person. She no longer had to take her high blood pressure, high cholesterol, auto-immune, constipation and retinal vein inclusion medications, lost a lot of weight and felt wonderful in the process. Now, 3 1/2 years later she feels and looks a-ma-zing!!!

As president of VSU, the Vegetarian Society of Utah, Barbara is now sharing the inspiring story of how she has saved her life with food and promoting the health benefits of a whole food plant based diet.

Today we join her as she shows us how to make a delicious dairy-free 'uncheese'. I've been experimenting with cultured cashew and macadamia nut based cheeze for the last few years and love LOVE them, so naturally I was curious to try Barbara's technique. One of the main differences between the two is that she uses agar-agar (a sea vegetable that acts as a natural thickener) and therefore a lot less nuts. While the agar is heated on the stove in order to be activated, all of the other ingredients are raw.

Let's see how she does it!



The Cheeze's texture was really impressive! After only one hour of chilling it was so firm that you could slice it with a knife! The blend of onion, dill and horseradish also made for a super tasty cheeze. Now I can't wait to play around with the idea and try other variations! In fact this weekend I'll be conducting a little experiment, replacing the agar with Irish moss paste. I'll let you know how it turns out!

In the meantime, here's the recipe that Barbara just demoed.


Onion, Dill & Horseradish Cheez
From The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak

1 1/2 C water
5 Tbs agar flakes or 1 1/2 Tbs agar powder
1/2 C chopped raw cashews
1/4 C nutritional yeast
3 Tbs lemon juice
2 Tbs tahini
2 Tbs white horseradish powder
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried onion flakes
2 tsp dried dill weed

Set aside a 2 Cup plastic storage container.

In a blender add the cashews, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, tahini, horseradish powder, mustard, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Bring water to boil.  Slowly add the agar stirring with whisk. Reduce the heat and simmer, whisking often, for 5 to 10 minutes, or until completely dissolved.

Slowly pour a little into blender and pulse.  Working quickly.  Scrape sides.  Put cover on blender and remove cover center - slowly pour rest of hot agar mixture into center of blender.  Process several
minutes until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the blender jar as necessary.  Pour in the onion flakes and dill weed and mix by hand or pulse quickly – being sure not to over blend – this is to be slightly chunky.

Pour into container and cool uncovered in the refrigerator.

When completely cool, cover and chill several hours.  To serve, turn out of the container and slice.

Store covered in refrigerator.  Will keep 5 to 7 days.

9 comments:

  1. wow, that looks like a slice of heaven!=) i'd like to experiment using irish moss.

    great video - i really enjoyed it!

    and yay for barbara!

    xoxo

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  2. It works great with Irish moss paste. I've been making fermented cheese with Irish moss for a long time. Delicious!

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    Replies
    1. awesome, how much irish moss paste did you use in this recipe? thanks (:

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  3. looks amazing! can it be frozen? thanks for sharing!!!! can't wait to try it:)

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  4. I can't wait to make this - looks so good!

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  5. This looks delicious!. Love your new videos! Very professional!
    Patty, Santa Barbara CA

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  6. Thanks everyone!

    Tomorrow is the day that I'll be making an Irish moss based gouda!!! Can't wait!

    Sarah,
    Barbara told me that she has never tried freezing it so I really can't say.

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  7. I forgot to mention that you probably will want to add a bit of psyllium with the Irish moss paste if you want it firm enough to slice.

    We have a cheese making video at http://drritamarie.com/videoclasses/cheesenodairy2011-01

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  8. Love the cheese. Thank you Carmella and Barbara. I've been making almond cheese with agar agar, using three times less water. Delicious.
    I also love the kitchen!!!

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